Kristine Froseth Takes the Cannes Film Festival
The Norwegian-American actor Kristine Froseth talks Cannes fashion and her latest movie Oh, Canada which premieres at the film festival on May 17.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Royal Gilbert
STYLING: Steph Major
In March, Kristine Froseth, 28, was at SXSW to debut Desert Road, Shannon Triplett’s acclaimed indie thriller that follows a twenty-something (Froseth) who’s just wrecked her car along an abandoned highway. As the protagonist seeks help, regardless of which way she heads, she finds herself repeatedly ending up right back where she started. In May, Froseth will attend the Cannes Film Festival, where Paul Schrader’s Oh, Canada making its world premiere Friday, May 17. The film is an adaptation of Russell Banks’s novel Foregone, which tells the story of a man named Leonard Fife, one of 60,000 who fled to Canada to avoid serving in Vietnam. Between Schrader and the film’s ensemble cast—Richard Gere, Jacob Elordi, Uma Thurman, and Michael Imperioli—Froseth will stand in good company on the red carpet. She’s used to that, though.
She’s starred opposite Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jon Bernthal as Sarah Jo, a twenty-something in a state of arrested development and on the cusp of sexual liberation, in Lena Dunham’s Sharp Stick, and opposite Michelle Pfeifer as a burgeoning Betty Ford in the Showtime series The First Lady. At this point, she’s dabbled in a variety of genres and even more character types. Everything but, she notes, a villian. Froseth spoke to L’OFFICIEL about the storytelling that draws her in, sharing her mental health journey on social media, and sartorial surprises at Cannes.
L’OFFICIEL: You’ve dabbled in almost every genre. Desert Road is horror-meets–sci fi, Sharp Stick is coming-of-age. What about a project draws you in?
KRISTINE FROSETH: The goal is to hopefully always be doing something that's new and different. I don't approach the project with a genre in mind. I'm very open to whatever it may be. It usually comes down to who's doing it, the message of the story, and how it resonates with me with whatever I'm going through in my life.
L’O: What elements in a story or a character are you looking for lately?
KF: The common themes are identity and what that means, how you create your own narrative, and how you grow through the challenges of being a human. That’s very vague but it's really how people deal with difficulties, because there are so many things that are out of our control. I think it's fun… how humans cope, so, trauma and addiction are things I'm very interested in. Grief. That's what I want to tap into.
L’O: How do you prepare for a project?
KF: Sometimes I connect with it right away and I have a very clear idea of mannerisms. With Sarah Jo [Sharp Stick], for example, I had a very clear idea of how she should eat her yogurt, how she should dress, how she should walk. And, when she stands, she stands very close to the wall, like she needs a safety net at all times. Lena’s [Dunham] script was very vivid. But sometimes it takes a long time, and I feel like I'm letting my subconscious deal with it as I read it. You read the script so many times and then, hopefully, something comes. I watch a lot of stuff that feels connected to it, and I like to make music playlists for all the characters.
L’O: So many big names are attached to Oh, Canada—from Michael Imperioli to Uma Thurman… what was it like to work with [legendary director and screenwriter] Paul Schrader?
KF: I learned a lot working with Paul. He has a hands-off approach. He trusts the people he casts and when you're on set, you get options to do it until he stops you, basically. He doesn't come in with many notes. It challenged me and I was working with great scene partners, so that was lucky.
L’O: What were your emotions going into that process?
KF: So much fear and anxiety and nerves, which is why I came in with as many ideas as I could. I tried to stay out of my own body and focus everything on my scene partner. If I'm overthinking it, then I'm gonna get paralyzed. I put everything on Richard [Gere] and Jacob [Elordi] and that was such an easy thing to do. They gave me so many things to work with. It was really cool to watch them exude such confidence and offer different versions and play around. It really was a great set to be on.
"I put everything on Richard [Gere] and Jacob [Elordi], and that was such an easy thing to do. They gave me so many things to work with."
L’O: Cannes is known for its red carpet and photo calls…what are you wearing?
KF: The fun thing about fashion is it always changes, and I'm really into trying to experiment with different versions of myself and really go with how I'm feeling on the day. I'm also trying to expand my knowledge of fashion and designers and up-and-coming designers. I’m really trying to listen to what mood I'm in. I'd really like to get more into connecting the red carpet moments with the projects I'm in. It's so cool when people do that. That's the next step. I want to create a bigger picture.
L’O: Who are your favorite designers right now?
KF: Kiko Kostadinov is one of my favorites. And Simone Rocha. The grungy-ness and colors of Kiko and the melancholy romanticism that Simone has going on…those are the two energies I'm really tapping into now. I'm in a very playful mood, but I'm also in a very melancholy mood. I’m going into my 30s, and I'm grieving my 20s, so the inspiration is listening to my internal state.
"I'd really like to get more into connecting the red carpet moments with the projects I'm in."
L’O: You’ve shared quite a bit on social media about navigating mental health. Why is it important for you to be so candid?
KF: It's come down to what's helped me and seeing people talk about it. Once I started getting help and having more of an understanding, I realized that I have the opportunity to share that experience, and maybe other people who are struggling can understand themselves better. It's such an individual journey, but it's helped me to see other people talk about it. Obviously, I don't share everything, and there's a boundary, but it's been awesome to have people reach out to me. Everyone can kind of help out everyone.
L’O: What’s next for you? Who are you manifesting working with that you haven’t yet?
KF: This is interesting because I have this fear of wanting too much. Then if it doesn't happen…but I guess you cope with the aftermath of that. I'm curious about the manifestation world, but I definitely have people I want to work with. The top ones are [director] Ruben Östlund and [director] Andrea Arnold.
HAIRSTYLIST: Dayaruci THE WALL GROUP
MAKEUP ARTIST: Emma Day THE WALL GROUP USING SUQQU
PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANTS: Nick Collins and Guillaume Mercier
